M Mangena: National Science and Technology Forum Awards Ceremony

19 May 2006

Programme Director
Chairperson of the NSTF Board, Dr John Marriot
The Acting CEO of the NSTF, Ms Jansie Niehaus
The NSTF Membership
Sponsors and funders
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Science and technology continues to develop as a key element of national
strategy. We should not assume that this is either a trivial or automatic
process. It requires continuous engagement among role players. The forging of a
national consensus on research, development and innovation remains an
imperative. Resources are not unlimited, and we need to ensure that economic
growth and the improvement of people’s quality of life remain the goals that we
keep in view when seeking outcomes from the investment of public resources.

Our higher education system has demonstrated a capacity to produce 1 000
PhDs per year. There are nearly 800 000 students in the higher education
system. This means that the number of graduates in the economy (currently at
about a million) will double in the next eight years or 100 months. At least
one in four of these new graduates will be involved in health, science,
engineering and technology. How will our economy respond to these changes? What
will the 250 000 new science, engineering and technology (SET) entrants to the
workforce be doing? Can we create 2 500 SET jobs per month over the next 100
months? How many will enter careers in research? How many will start high
technology businesses? How many will join the fight against poverty and
disease? These are questions we should all be thinking about.

The National Science and Technology Forum are in its eleventh year. Since
its formation in 1995, the National Science and Technology Forum has been a key
actor in developing the profile of science, engineering and technology in South
Africa. Under the NSTF’s umbrella, representatives of government, private
sector and civil society shared with each other the pains and jubilations of
creating a new science and technology order.

The NSTF’s mandate includes acting as a source of ideas and creativity, a
sounding board, and constructive watchdog in the processes of growing,
transforming and restructuring South Africa’s national science and technology
system. The NSTF has thought a lot about excellence and effective contributions
by institutions and individuals. It has established “best practice” norms, and
seeks to catalyse the integration of progressive developments taking place in
the fields of science, engineering and technology. It is against this
background that the NSTF Awards must be understood. However, we also need to
take account of the explosion of new talent coming into the economy in a very
strategic way.

Through the Awards, the NSTF emphasises the importance of “building the
future” today. By recognising productive scientists and high performing schools
and learners, the NSTF is creating opportunities for the productive science
system of today and tomorrow.

With Government’s focus on the development of priority skills in areas of
scarce resources, we need to focus our energies on identifying and nurturing
talent and potential in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We
need to address the challenge of developing a new generation of engineers,
researchers and innovators working on matters of national relevance. The focus
needs to emphasise innovation and new solutions crafted in our particular
context. We need to ensure better resources for poor but high performing
learners at all stages of their research career development cycle. Careers in
engineering must be promoted and made attractive. Our institutions should
ensure that they “put South Africa first”. Unless these things are done, the
future of the system of innovation will be compromised.

The NSTF recognises and rewards young people of potential who have overcome
significant barriers and have achieved in maths and science. It rewards
individuals and institutions in the system of innovation who are significant
achievers.

But the record of the NSTF Awards reveals a disturbing picture. Those who
were disadvantaged by our unfortunate history still appear in a special “Black
Senior and Junior researchers” category. While the background to the
establishment of these categories is understood, we must interrogate this
approach and avoid promoting a separatist ideology by default. The clear
intention of government is to produce a more representative cohort of
productive researchers. To achieve this goal, we need to develop benchmarks and
work towards their achievement. This requirement also applies to the NSTF
Awards.

Given that the future of the science system is in the hands of the youth, we
need to interrogate the extent to which the NSTF “family” invests in targeted
youth developments linked to science and engineering. It is against this
background that my department has developed, through an extensive consultative
process, a Youth into Science Strategy. The dual goal of this Strategy is to
promote science and technology literacy, and to enrol a more representative
cohort of young people in engineering and technology-based careers.

Local government faces huge challenges in service delivery. We need
engineers and technically skilled people to address this reality. The diseases
associated with poverty need a range of interventions if we are to address them
and improve the quality of life of our citizens and those of our neighbours in
this continent. Young people will not necessarily choose these challenging
careers if they are not excited by science and technology, and provided with
relevant career information from an early age. The Youth into Science Strategy
proposes an enhanced network of Science Centres with a greater reach into
under-serviced rural areas that is constructed with greater relevance. The NSTF
has been engaged to develop and extend our Network of Science Centres, and I
hope that we will receive greater participation and support in this
endeavour.

Early identification and nurturing of talent is essential. Some of our
initiatives in this regard include the Department of Science and
Technology/Thuthuka Partnership for Mathematics and Science Camps, the Expo for
Young Scientists, Supplementary Tuition interventions, and Mathematics and
Science Olympiads. In their first year of implementation, the Camps attracted
more than 1 000 learners. The majority of these learners have since enrolled
for further studies in accounting, engineering and science. It is heartening to
see increasing numbers of learners passing mathematics and science with symbols
higher than C.

Some of those who do well in the Expo for Young Scientists compete with
their peers in the International Science and Engineering Faire. We are indeed
proud that South Africa will be hosting this global event in July next year. We
trust that you will involve yourselves in making this a top quality celebration
of youth and science in our country. Later during 2007, South Africa will also
host an International Conference on Science Centres and Museums in Developing
Countries. These activities are intended to strengthen and consolidate our
Youth into Science Strategy.

I hope these investments in our youth will enable us to achieve a
representative critical mass of scientists, technologists, engineers and
mathematicians. If we can fail to produce an adequate representative cohort of
highly skilled and productive researchers to do scientific research and run our
technological systems, our country will fall behind in international
competitiveness.

We must intensify our endeavours to build a more conducive environment for
science, technology and innovation. This includes interventions to create
Research Chairs in universities, the tax incentives for business investments in
Research and Development, and efforts to attract research intensive foreign
direct investment, among others.

R1 billion per annum of R&D funding flows from international sources
into South Africa. This is about 10% of our total R&D spending. It is
invested in firms, universities and research councils. This is a clear signal
that international funders are attracted by the quality of South African
research. Programmes such as the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor, the Square
Kilometre Array Bid and the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative have
attracted South African scientists and engineers back to the country. The
National Biotechnology Strategy has had a similar effect.

A more effective and modern infrastructure for research has been in the
planning phase over the last year. We have new and additional budget resources
available for this. This will lead to further gains and increased
attractiveness of South Africa as a platform for research.

We invite the NSTF to grab these opportunities. At the same time, we need to
be more rigorous in localising the benefits of our research and innovation
efforts. “South Africa first” should be our watchword. Intellectual property
developed with public funds is leaky stuff. The new policy framework is in the
final stages of completion, and it is my hope that as we develop the enabling
framework and reward innovators more effectively and reliably, our institutions
will develop the capacity to locate the innovations in South African firms, and
avoid the “loss” of key technologies to overseas competitors.

Many individuals played a pioneering role in establishing the NSTF and
ensuring that it becomes at once a pressure group and a vehicle for
transforming the science system. Death has robbed us of the services of Dr
James Hlongwane at a critical point of his work towards the renewal of the NSTF
into a formidable vehicle to contribute towards accelerated and shared growth.
May his soul rest in peace!

His unfortunate passing came at a time when government is injecting more
financial resources to improve research capacity to develop more SET skills.
We, however, take comfort in the realisation that his vision of an expanded
representative science system is slowly but surely being crafted.

The activities of the National Science Week are taking place in all nine
provinces this week. We hope to deepen and intensify the participation of the
NSTF in the Science Week activities. The certainty of participation by NSTF
institutions should not distract our resolve to be more creative. Given the
desperate need to mobilise our society to appreciate the importance of science,
technology, engineering and mathematics, the enhanced involvement of the NSTF
cannot be over-emphasised. We appeal to you to use tomorrow, which is the last
day of the 2006 National Science Week, to encourage increased participation by
our communities.

We wish all nominees and winners every success. In you we have positive role
models for the younger generation. The fact that you reached this level
demonstrates the high standard of your work. We hope you will continue to
inspire others in the same way.

Ladies and gentlemen, may we all join in celebrating those who have been
recognised by this Awards ceremony.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department Science and Technology
19 May 2006

Source: Department Science and Technology (http://www.dst.gov.za)